Tide coming in, tide going out

I used to run in the afternoons.
Lately I have been running in the mornings, at low tide.
Because I collect beach glass, and it has been low tide in the mornings.

I started thinking this through this morning, as I was a little later than usual for my run. I started wondering about the tide coming up - would there be any glass, shell, rock - would the tide wash it all away? Then I realized, maybe the tide, the waves would be bringing it all IN!!
And then my mind started racing with analogy.
We have such tides in our lives - things keep moving, never staying the same.
Changing, shifting. Coming, and going.
And we have to ask ourselves.
Are things being taken away from us?
Is that what the changing of the tides in our lives are?
Loss?
Or are things being given to us - presented to us.
Offered up to us - for us - gifts.
Like the waves offering up the sparkle and shine of the water on the sand, the shells, rocks and glass?
A chance at something new.
And sparkling.
Because I am a firm believer the gifts in our lives are what we make of them.
And then came the next thought about the shifting sands of our lives.

When you look for beach glass, you sometimes will see a 'gem' in the tide line.
And you have to decide - ooh, there it is, the perfect piece - I'm gonna go for it. I'm gonna go run out there and grab it, and run back before the water gets me.
Before the water and sand and tide engulfs me AND my treasure is lost.
The question is - is it worth the risk?
Can you do it?
Can you burst out, make the effort, put it out there (or as the saying goes - hang it out there) to get what it is that you really are aiming for?
Are you willing to risk it all to run TOWARDS your goal, not walk away from it?
For fear of getting....wet?
Maybe you don't.
Maybe you say, oh, it's too far, I'll get soaked, how will I get home if I'm drenched in sea water and sand. I'll find something else. Let someone else get it. It's okay.
But maybe you DO.
You run out, snatch it, run back.
And you've made it!
You didn't get wet, you got your piece of....
oh, wait.
It was 'fools glass' as we like to call it.
It was a grey shell that just LOOKED like the perfect piece of beach glass.
And you find you were risking it all for something that wasn't really what you thought it was at all. Maybe it was that gem, maybe it was fools glass. Either way.
Was it worth the effort to
TRY?
Well, of course it was.
Are you better for having done that? YOU BET. Your heart raced, your breath quickened...you felt more alive.
But you knew that was going to be my answer, didn't you.
Because, if you follow this blog at all, you know we encourage you to
'come on in, the water's fine'

At quilt shows we often are asked, "if you're not a shop, and your not an online fabric store, then what are you? What do you sell?" And I always say,
"WE SELL ENCOURAGEMENT"
nothing more

So, my friends, do not worry what the tide will wash up.
Or what you may THINK that it is washing away.
Keep your eye on the prize - keep your goal in front of you.
Let me tell you one more thing...on the run back?
Yep. You guessed it.
More beach glass.
You see things in a different light.
And you see things you NEVER would have seen had you only walked that one way.
TURN THINGS AROUND.
LOOK AT IT ANOTHER WAY.
LOOK AT IT IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT.
(where DO you think these sayings come from, for heavens sake?!?!???)

Oh, the quilting part?
Can you guess?

sparkle+shine
2009

natalie

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